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The Inka, like the Aztecs (or Mexica) of Mesoamerica, were relative newcomers to power at the time of European contact. When Francisco Pizarro took the Inka ruler (or Sapa Inka) Atahualpa hostage in 1532, the Inka empire had existed fewer than two centuries. Also like the Aztecs, the Inka had developed a complex culture deeply rooted in the traditions that came before them. Their textiles, ceramics, metal- and woodwork, and architecture all reflect the materials, environment, and cultural traditions of the Andes, as well as the power and ambitions of the Inka empire.

An Empire of Roads-and Cords

The Inka empire at its greatest extent sprawled from the modern-day city of Quito in Ecuador to Santiago in Chile. The Inka called their empire Tawantinsuyu , usually translated as "Land of the Four Quarters" in their language, Quechua. At the center of the empire was the capital city of Cusco. The empire was connected by a road system-the Qhapaq Ñan-that was used for official Inka business only. Soldiers, officials, and llama caravans carrying food, ceramics, textiles, and other items used the roads, and so did message runners. These runners were stationed at regular intervals along the roads, so that messages could travel swiftly throughout the empire.

However, the messages that these runners carried were not written in the way we would expect. They were not made of marks on paper, stone, or clay. They were, instead, encoded into a knotted string implement called a quipu. Our knowledge of quipu remains limited. We have been able to determine only some of the ways that the quipu were used. Researchers continue to investigate this unique system of communication. The knots along the various cords recorded numbers, so that a knot with 5 loops could represent the number 5. The position on the cord could then determine what the number meant in a decimal system, so that a 5-loop knot could represent the number 5, or 50, or 500, and so forth.

The cords of are frequently composed of different natural and dyed colors, but the reason or meaning behind those colors so far eludes scholars. The numbers encoded in the helped the Inka keep track of the tax-paying obligations of their subjects, record population numbers, harvest yields, herds of livestock, and other important information. Also recorded on the were stories-histories of the Inka and other social information. However, scholars today still don't know how that information was encoded into the .

More valuable than gold

and other Inka fiber objects were made from yarn spun from alpaca fibers. Llamas and alpacas are the domesticated relatives of the wild camelids of the Andes, the guanaco and vicuña, and all of them are related to the camel. Alpacas and llamas were important to the functioning of the Inka empire, but they had been essential to the lives of Andeans for millennia. Llamas provided meat as well as acting as beasts of burden-an adult male llama can carry up to 100 pounds. Alpacas provided soft, strong wool for textiles and rope-making.

When the Spaniards encountered the Inka, they were confused by the fact that they considered textiles more valuable than gold. Textiles were integral to the structure of the Inka empire. , or "chosen women," were kept in seclusion by the Inka to weave fine textiles (called ). These textiles mostly took the form of tunics and mantles. Some were distributed as high-status gifts by the Sapa Inka to cement the loyalty of local lords throughout the empire. Others were burned as sacrifices to Inti, the sun god and divine ancestor of the Inka ruling class. This shows us just how highly the Inka regarded textiles: they were fit for a god.

The were not the only ones who wove. People of all ages spun, dyed, and wove textiles. The quality of wool, the fineness of its spinning, the relative rarity of the dye, and the skill of its weaving all determined the value of a textile. Some kinds of textiles were reserved for nobility or for warriors. The super-fine wool of wild guanacos and vicuñas was reserved only for the Sapa Inka's garments.

A textile is created using a grid of warp (usually vertical) threads, which act as the support or skeleton of the fabric, and weft (usually horizontal) threads, which are passed under and over the warp threads. Where the weft threads cover the warp creates the surface design of the textile, somewhat like pixels in a computer image. The "pixel size" is determined by thread fineness. Decoration on Inka textiles was based in this grid structure, resulting in geometric designs.

Inka metalwork

Despite the value they placed on textiles, the Inka did also create works out of gold and silver, but unfortunately, most were melted down by the Spaniards for ease of transport, or destroyed because they were thought to be idols. Depictions of people, animals, and plants have survived. The plants tend to be quite naturalistic, while the people and animals are more abstracted. Human figures would likely originally have been dressed in miniature clothing. Figurines uncovered at the sites of human sacrifices on remote mountain peaks have been found dressed in finely-woven textiles with elaborate feather headdresses.

Vessels for feasting

Ceramics were also important to the Inka empire. Large vessels were used to store foods such as corn and dried alpaca meat in warehouses along the Qhapaq Ñan, which could feed soldiers and imperial officials, or be distributed to the people in times of hardship. Big vessels could also be used to cook food and brew corn beer ( or ) for feasting.

Feasting (the ceremonial consumption of food and drink) was a method of cementing social and political ties, and the nobility were expected to provide feasts for large crowds on important occasions. Vessels called were used for transport, storage, and -brewing. Some are over four feet tall. They have large handles on their sides and a thick protrusion from the base of the neck. A rope could be looped between the handles and over this protrusion, making it possible to carry on the back of a person or llama. The pointed base could be pushed into the ground to hold the vessel steady.

shown here is made from wood, and like the Asua would be drunk out of kerus , flared beakers made of wood, ceramic, or metal, depending on the status of the drinker. were often made in pairs, reflecting the social implications of drinking as a part of feasting. One from each pair would be larger than the other. The person of higher rank would drink from the larger and offer to the person of lower rank in the smaller vessel. By drinking together, they cemented the reciprocal obligations that required nobles to provide and food to the people, and those below them to provide taxes and loyalty to the rulers of the empire. The . urpu vessel, has geometric designs

Inka architecture

Perhaps the most well-known Inka art is their architecture. The Inka built everywhere they conquered, and their architectural style helped mark areas as belonging to the empire. Inka architecture is based on stone walls, fitted together in a very distinctive way. Instead of cutting stones into blocks and then laying those blocks together in rows, in some cases, the Inka would fit individual stones of varying sizes and shapes against each other, fitting them together like a puzzle. The stones would fit so closely that the Spanish remarked that a person could not even insert a knife blade between them.

Each stone was shaped so that it had a slight bulge or a slight indentation on the side where it would lay against another block. These bulges and indentations would slot together, holding the stones in place. It also allowed the stones to shift if they needed to-and they did need to, because Peru is seismically active and has frequent earthquakes.

The doorways, windows, and niches placed in Inka walls have a signature vertical trapezoid shape, a recognizable and distinctive aspect of their architecture. Sometimes referred to as a keyhole shape, it is thought that this form is also something that helps stabilize the architecture during earthquakes. The roofs of these buildings were made of wood and thatch.

The Inka also built large architectural ensembles like the site of Ollantaytambo, which was a waystation along the Qhapaq Ñan. It consisted of storehouses, living quarters, and a series of terraces built into the side of a mountain. In most cases, the Inka used terraces as a way to stabilize mountainside soil for farming, but at Ollantaytambo they were planted solely with flowers-a show of the empire's power through its ability to use stone, manpower, and water to do nothing but create a lavish and pleasant leisure space.

Inka traditions survive

With their defeat at the hands of the Spaniards, the Inka lost their place as divinely-descended leaders of their people. However, Inka nobles petitioned for and often won the right to be treated as elites in colonial Spanish society, and celebrated their heritage at Christian festivals, such as Corpus Christi. The privileges the nobles received did not translate to the rest of the population, though, and many people were deprived of their lands and personal freedom, required to pay taxes through often arduous labor.

Rebellions vying for a return to Inka rule occurred throughout the colonial period, the last of which took place in the 1780s. Peru finally achieved independence from Spanish rule in the 1820s, establishing a republican government. Modern residents of Cusco and its surrounding areas are still proud of their Inka heritage, and modern religious celebrations often incorporate parts of native culture into Christian practices.
Additional resources: Qhapaq Ñan UNESCO World Heritage Site page Dualism in Andean Art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Timeline of Art History The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire from the Smithsonian The Lost Inca Empire from PBS

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The Inka, like the Aztecs (or Mexica) of Mesoamerica, were relative newcomers to power at the time of European contact. When Francisco Pizarro took the Inka ruler (or Sapa Inka) Atahualpa hostage in 1532, the Inka empire had existed fewer than two centuries.

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The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire

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The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire

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Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Many of the people who live on the island of Taquile in Peru are descendants of the Inca colonists sent here more than 500 years ago. Most still keep to the old ways. They weave brilliantly colored cloth, speak the traditional language of the Inca, and tend their fields as they have for centuries.

There, the names of powerful Inca rulers still ring with power and ambition centuries after their death: Viracocha Inca, Huascar Inca, and Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui. The royal Inca dynasty to which these men belonged created the largest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas.

Until recently, scholars possessed few clues about the lives of Inca kings. Now archaeologists are making up for lost time. They are combing rugged mountain slopes near Cusco, the cradle of Inca civilization. Thousands of previously unknown sites, including the lost estates of Inca rulers, have been discovered. On the frontiers of the lost empire, archaeologists are piecing together dramatic evidence of the wars Inca kings fought and of the way they ruled.

The Inca State Started Earlier

U.S. archaeologist Brian Bauer has long been interested in the origins of the Inca Empire. When he began his studies in the 1980s, most historians believed that a brilliant, young Andean named Pachacutec became the first Inca king in the early 1400s. They believed he transformed a small collection of villages into a mighty empire in just one generation. Bauer didn't believe it. He was certain the Inca dynasty had far deeper roots, and was determined to find proof.

So Bauer began exploring the Cusco Valley. He and his team marched up and down the steep mountain slopes carefully recording every pottery fragment or toppled stone wall they came across. Their careful, methodical work paid off. Bauer eventually discovered thousands of previously unknown Inca sites. This new evidence proved the Inca state had risen much earlier than previously believed-sometime between 1200 and 1300.

The ancient rulers of the region, the mighty Wari, had fallen by 1100. In part, this was due to a severe drought that afflicted the Andes for a century or more. After the Wari fell, local chiefs across the Peruvian highlands battled over scarce water and led raids into neighboring villages in search of food. Forced out of their homes, the villagers fled to freezing, windswept hideouts above 3,962 meters (13,000 feet).

Things were different in the fertile, well-watered valley around Cusco, however. Inca farmers there stood their ground. Instead of splintering apart and warring among themselves, Inca villages united into a small state capable of mounting an organized defense.

At the same time, temperatures in the Andes started to become milder. As temperatures climbed, Inca farmers moved up the formerly icy slopes. They planted crops along stepped terraces, irrigated their fields, and reaped record corn harvests. This abundance of food led to a growing population. In time, Inca rulers could call up more soldiers than any neighboring chief.

Inca kings soon began eyeing the lands and resources of others. They struck marriage alliances with neighboring lords, and handed out generous gifts to their new allies. When a rival lord stirred up trouble, they flexed their military might. In all the surrounding valleys, local lords gave in one by one, until there was only one mighty state and one capital, the sacred city of Cusco.

Inca kings then turned their attention to the wealthy lands surrounding Lake Titicaca. Sometime after 1400, one of the greatest Inca rulers, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui, began planning his conquest of the south. It was the dawn of the empire.

The Titicaca region was controlled by the Colla. Their lords ruled as many as 400,000 people in kingdoms spread around the lake. Their lands were rich and desirable. Gold and silver veined the mountains, and herds of alpacas and llamas fattened in lush meadows. Military success in the Andes depended on such livestock. Llamas were the only draft animal on the continent, and could carry 31.7 kilograms (70 pounds) of gear on their backs. If the Inca king could not conquer the Titicaca lords who owned these vast herds, he would live in fear of the day these lords would come to conquer him instead.

In the mid-1400s, two mighty armies gathered on a high, cold Peruvian plain north of the great lake. On one side was the army of the Colla, which bristled with battle gear. Pachacutec scanned the enemy ranks in silence, preparing for the great battle ahead.

Suddenly, Pachacutec issued the order to attack. Playing panpipes carved from the bones of enemies and war drums fashioned from the skins of dead foes, his soldiers advanced toward the Colla forces. Then both sides charged. At battle's end, Colla bodies littered the landscape.

In the years that followed, Pachacutec and his descendants defeated all the southern lords. However, military victory was only the first step in the Inca's empire building. Officials next set about establishing civil control over the many different ethnic communities scattered throughout their empire.

Machu Picchu Is One of Many Inca Masterpieces

If provinces mounted resistance, Inca rulers deported the locals and replaced them with loyal subjects. Residents of remote villages were moved to new Inca-controlled towns. These towns were erected along Inca roads-roads that sped the movement of Inca troops. Inca governors ordered the construction of roadside storehouses for those troops. Then, local communities were commanded to fill the storehouses with provisions.

Under Inca rule, Andean civilization prospered as never before. Inca engineers transformed fragmentary road networks into interconnected highways. Inca farmers mastered high-altitude agriculture and grew some 70 different crops. Often, three to seven years' worth of food would be stockpiled in vast storage complexes. Inca masons constructed architectural masterpieces. Some, like Machu Picchu, continue to awe visitors today.

The Inca Built Grand, King-Like Estates

By the time the Inca King Huayna Capac took power around 1493, little seemed beyond the reach of the Inca dynasty. To bring grandeur to his new capital in Ecuador, Huayna Capac put more than 4,500 rebellious subjects to work hauling immense stone blocks all the way from Cusco. The stones were dragged a distance of nearly 1,609 kilometers (1,000 miles) up and down steep mountain roads. Meanwhile, in the Inca heartland, a small army of men and women toiled to construct a royal estate for Huayna Capac and his family. At the king's bidding, they moved the Urubamba River to the southern side of the valley. They leveled hills and drained marshes, then planted corn and many other crops. In the center of the estate, they laid stones and bricks for Huayna Capac's new country palace, Quispiguanca.

Quispiguanca was encircled by parkland, fields, and gardens. It was a retreat from the world, a place for a warrior-king to unwind. Here Huayna Capac entertained guests in the great halls of his palace.

Quispiguanca was not the only spectacular estate. Each new Inca king built a city palace and country home for himself and his family shortly after assuming power. To date, archaeologists have located the ruins of roughly a dozen royal estates built by at least six Inca kings.

Even after these kings died, they remained the powers behind the throne. "The ancestors were a key element of Andean life," says Sonia Guillén, director of Peru's minister of culture. After Huayna Capac died around 1527, retainers mummified his body and carried it back to Cusco. Members of the royal family frequently visited the dead monarch. They asked his advice on important matters and heeded the replies given by an oracle sitting at his side.

A Teen King Comes to Power

In the year 1533, thousands of people packed into Cusco's main plaza to celebrate the arrival of their new, teenage king. Two years earlier, Spanish invaders had landed in the north, bearing deadly new weapons. The Spaniards had taken the Inca king, Atahualpa, prisoner. Eight months later, they executed their royal captive. In 1533 the leader of the Spaniards, Francisco Pizarro, picked a young prince to rule as a puppet king. His name was Manco Inca Yupanqui.

It was Manco Inca who was being installed that day in 1533. The crowd watched as the royal teenager was carried into the square, along with the mummies of his ancestors. The mummies reminded all that Manco Inca descended from a long line of kings.

In the months that followed, the Spanish invaders seized the palaces and country estates of Cusco. They took royal Inca women as their wives. Greatly angered by this, Manco Inca rebelled in 1536 and tried to drive the Spanish from the land. When his army suffered defeat, he fled Cusco for the jungle city of Vilcabamba, from which he continued to launch attacks. The Spanish wouldn't subdue this stronghold until 1572.

Great Kings Are Buried in Secret Somewhere in Lima

During those war-torn decades, the Inca's sprawling network of roads, storehouses, temples, and estates began slowly falling into ruin. As the empire crumbled, the Inca made a valiant attempt to preserve the symbols of kingly authority. Servants collected the precious bodies of the sacred kings and concealed them around Cusco. These hidden mummies were worshipped in secret-and in defiance of Spanish priests. In 1559, Cusco's chief official, Juan Polo de Ondegardo, resolved to stamp out this practice. After a lengthy search, the remains of 11 Inca kings and several queens were tracked down and seized.

For a time, the mummies of Pachacutec, Huayna Capac, and two other royals were put on display for Europeans' amusement. But the damp coastal climate caused the bodies to rot. So, Spanish officials buried the greatest of the Inca kings in secrecy in Lima, Peru, far from the Andes and the people who loved and worshipped them.

Today, no one can say where Peru's greatest kings lie. Bauer, the American archeologist, believes this is tragic. "Can you imagine," he asks, "how American citizens would feel if the British had taken the bodies of the first several presidents back to London during the War of 1812?" Perhaps one day this injustice will be righted, and the royal Inca mummies will be returned to their descendants.

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Tuesday, September 1, 2020 Many of the people who live on the island of Taquile in Peru are descendants of the Inca colonists sent here more than 500 years ago. Most still keep to the old ways. They weave brilliantly colored cloth, speak the traditional language of the Inca, and tend their fields as they have for centuries.

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The Moche civilization (also known as the Mochica) flourished along the northern coast and valleys of ancient Peru, in particular, in the Chicama and Trujillo Valleys, between 1 CE and 800 CE. The Moche state spread to eventually cover an area from the Huarmey Valley in the south to the Piura Valley in the north, and they even extended their influence as far afield as the Chincha Islands. Moche territory was divided linguistically by two separate but related languages: Muchic (spoken north of the Lambayeque Valley) and Quingan. The two areas also display slightly different artistic and architectural trends and so the Moche state may be better described as a loose confederacy rather than a single, unified entity.

The Moche were contemporary with the Nazca civilization (200 BCE - 600 CE) further down the coast but, thanks to their conquest of surrounding territories, they were able to accumulate the wealth and power necessary to establish themselves as one of the most unique and important early-Andean cultures. The Moche also expressed themselves in art with such a high degree of aesthetics that their naturalistic and vibrant murals, ceramics, and metalwork are amongst the most highly regarded in the Americas.

The Moche were perhaps the most accomplished artists and metalworkers of any Andean civilization.

Moche

The capital, known simply as Moche and giving its name to the civilization which founded it, lies at the foot of the Cerro Blanco mountain and once covered an area of 300 hectares. Besides urban housing, plazas, storehouses, and workshop buildings, it also has impressive monuments which include two massive adobe brick pyramid-like mounds. These monumental structures, in their original state, display typical traits of Moche architecture: multiple levels, access ramps, and slanted roofing.

The larger 'pyramid' is the Huaca del Sol, which has four tiers and stands 40 metres high today. Originally it stood over 50 m high, covered an area of 340 x 160 m, and was constructed using over 140 million bricks, each stamped with a maker's mark. A ramp on the north side gives access to the summit, which is a platform in the form of a cross. The smaller structure, known as the Huaca de la Luna, stands 500 metres away and was built using some 50 million adobe bricks. It has three tiers and is decorated with friezes showing Moche mythology and rituals. The entire structure was once enclosed within a high adobe brick wall. Both pyramids were constructed around 450 CE, were originally brightly coloured in red, white, yellow, and black, and were used as an imposing setting to perform rituals and ceremonies. The Spanish conquistadors later diverted the Rio Moche in order to break down the Huaca del Sol and loot the tombs within, suggesting that the pyramid was also used by the Moche for generations as a mausoleum for important persons.

Buildings excavated between the two pyramid-mounds include many large residences with courtyards enclosed by walls. The fields around the site are laid out in a regular grid pattern of small rectangular plots often with a small adobe viewing platform, which suggests some sort of state supervision and control by the elite (Kuraka) class. Moche agriculture benefitted from an extensive system of canals, reservoirs, and aqueducts, so that the land could support a population of around 25,000.

Other Moche sites include a pilgrimage centre at Pacatnamú, a mountain top site above the Jequetepeque River and actually used from the Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 BCE). There were also administrative centres at Panamarca - where there is another large adobe brick mound, this time with a switch-back ramp leading to the top of the structure - and at Huancaco in the Viru Valley and Pampa de Los Incas in the Santa Valley.

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Moche religion and art were initially influenced by the earlier Chavin culture (c. 900 - 200 BCE) and in the final stages by the Chimú culture. Knowledge of the Moche pantheon is sketchy, but we do know of Al Paec the creator or sky god (or his son) and Si the moon goddess. Al Paec, typically depicted in Moche art with ferocious fangs, a jaguar headdress, and snake earrings, was considered to dwell in the high mountains. Human sacrifices, especially of war prisoners but also Moche citizens, were offered to appease him, and their blood was offered in ritual goblets. Si was considered the supreme deity, as it was this goddess that controlled the seasons and storms that had such an influence on agriculture and daily life. In addition, the moon was considered even more powerful than the sun because Si could be seen both at night and during the day. It is also interesting that murals and such finds as the intact tomb of the priestess known as La Senora de Cao illustrate that women could play a prominent role in Moche religion and ceremony.

Another deity who frequently appears in Moche art is the half-man, half-jaguar Decapitator god, so-called because he is often represented holding a vicious looking sacrificial knife ( tumi) in one hand and the severed head of a sacrificial victim in the other. The god may also be depicted as a gigantic spider figure ready to suck the life-blood from his victims. That such scenes mirror real life events is supported by archaeological finds, such as those at the foot of the Huaca de la Luna where skeletons of 40 men under 30 years of age show evidence that they were mutilated and thrown from the top of the pyramid. The bones of these skeletons display cut marks, limbs were ripped out of their sockets, and jaw bones are missing from severed skulls. Interestingly, the bodies lie above soft ground caused by heavy El Nino rains, which suggests the sacrifices may have been offered to the Moche gods in order to alleviate this environmental disaster. Ceremonial goblets have also been discovered which contain traces of human blood, and tombs have revealed costumed and be-jewelled individuals almost exactly like the religious figures depicted in Moche murals.

Moche Art

Many fine examples of Moche art have been recovered from tombs at Sipán (c. 300 CE), San José de Moro (c. 550 CE), and Huaca Cao Viejo, which are amongst some of the best preserved burial sites from any Andean culture. The Moche were gifted potters and superb metalworkers, and finds include exquisite gold headdresses and chest plates, gold, silver, and turquoise jewellery (especially ear-spools and nose ornaments), textiles, tumi knives, and copper bowls and drinking vessels. Fine pottery vessels were usually made using moulds, but each was individually and distinctively decorated, typically using cream, reds, and browns. Perhaps the most famous vessels are the highly realistic portrait stirrup-spouted pots. These are considered portraits of real people, and several examples could be made depicting the same individual. Indeed one face - easily identified by his cut lip - appears in over 40 such pots.

Pottery shapes and decorations did evolve over time and became more and more elaborate, although conversely, themes became less various in later Moche pottery and art in general. One of the most distinctive styles created by the Moche uses silhouette figures embellished with fine line details very similar to Greek black-figure pottery. Ceramic effigy figures are also common, especially of musicians, priestesses, and captives.

Popular subjects in Moche art - as seen on wall paintings, friezes, pottery decoration, and fine metal objects - include humans, anthropomorphic figures (especially fanged felines), and animals such as snakes, frogs, birds (especially owls), fish, and crabs. Whole scenes are also common, especially religious ceremonies with Bird and Warrior Priests, shamans, coca rituals, armoured warriors, ritual and real warfare with their resulting captives, hunting episodes, and, of course, deities - notably scenes showing night skies across which crescent boats carry figures such as Si. Many of these scenes are rendered to capture narratives and, above all, action; figures are always doing something in Moche art.

Sipán & Pampa Grande

In c. 550 CE the Moche canal systems and agricultural fields became covered in sand (blown inland from the coast where it had been deposited by erosive flooding from the valleys), and the population left the area, resettling further north in the Lambayeque Valley, notably at the sites of Sipán and Pampa Grande. The move may also have been precipitated by the expansion of the Huari based in the highlands of central Peru. At Sipán some of the best preserved and richest tombs in the Americas have been discovered, including the famous 'Warrior Priest' tomb with its outstanding precious metal objects such as a gold mask, ear-spools, bracelets, body armour, sceptre, ingots, and magnificently crafted silver and gold peanut necklace.

The site of Pampa Grande covered 600 hectares and included the once 55 metre high Huaca Fortaleza ritual platform. Reached by a 290-metre ramp the summit had a columned structure containing a mural of felines. However, after 150 years of occupation the site was also abandoned, once again, probably due to a combination of climatic factors such as an extended period of drought, Huari expansion, and internal strife as indicated by evidence of fire damage to many of the buildings.

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The Moche civilization (also known as the Mochica) flourished along the northern coast and valleys of ancient Peru, in particular, in the Chicama and Trujillo Valleys, between 1 CE and 800 CE. The Moche state spread to eventually cover an area from the Huarmey Valley in the south to the Piura Valley in the north, and they even extended their influence as far afield as the Chincha Islands.

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Who Were the Mysterious Moche Civilization of Peru?

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Skilled creatives, the Moche civilization left behind artistry that allowed future generations a glimpse into their enigmatic society.

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Story highlights

A team of archaeologists has uncovered two ceremonial chambers in Peru used by the ancient Moche culture around 1,500 years ago. The find, announced last week, is shedding new light on the political life and rituals of the enigmatic civilization and could help us understand its sudden collapse.

The Moche civilization, which once ruled the northern coast of Peru, was highly sophisticated. They built impressive pyramids that still dominate the landscape today, they developed efficient farming technology, yet they also had a gory tradition of human sacrifice.

The two rooms unearthed at the Huaca Limón de Ucupe monument, an archaeological site in the country's northern Lambayeque region, are thought to have been used by the Moche for political debates and feasts.

A staircase leads up to one room, the banquet hall, where two thrones face each other, thought to be where a powerful leader would dine with a guest. Murals depicting fish and sea lions decorate the walls, in a naturalistic style contrasting with the supernatural art typically found on Moche ceramics.

Read: Temple to ancient Roman cult resurrected beneath London

The other room, attached to the banquet hall, has a tall circular podium, which archaeologists say would have been used by the ruler when making announcements.

"They represent an important step to understanding and reconstructing the function of several architectural elements linked to the use of power protocols in the elites of the Moche culture," Walter Alva, lead archaeologist of the project, told CNN.

"It was an encouraging and instructive surprise to find archaeology that contributes to the interpretation of the Moche as a technologically advanced society, which is socio-politically very complex," he said.

The 'master craftsmen'

The Moche civilization occupied Chicama valley, a desert plain stretching between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, from about 100 to 700 AD. Despite the harsh climate, the Moche flourished, growing corn, beans, and potatoes using an advanced network of irrigation canals, and creating settlements covering more than 350 km of coastline.

Read: 11,500-year-old infant remains reveal ancient population

Jeffrey Quilter, a lecturer at Harvard University and a specialist on Moche history, said that the term "master craftsmen," sometimes used to describe the Moche, was well-justified.

"They were outstanding artists and technicians," he said. "They had highly developed political and religious systems and they mastered the desert environment from within their lush, oasis-like valleys."

Although the Moche left no written record, vivid artistic depictions on their ceramics and gold work give insight into the society's customs. Some feature animals, plants, rulers and warriors; others famously illustrate a variety of sexual acts. Processions, hunts and sacrifice ceremonies can also be seen on Moche iconography.

Until now, there was no evidence beyond that depicted on ceramics that grand feasts physically took place. "The recent discoveries have allowed us to document and confirm these scenarios, that correlate perfectly with the (ceramic) illustrations," said Alva, director of the Tumbas Reales de Sipán museum, which houses many of the Moche's archaeological treasures.

Quilter agrees this is a significant breakthrough. "The newly discovered spaces help to provide us with a three-dimensional view of architectural features previously known only through two-dimensional art," he says.

Another source of information on the Moche people has been their burial sites. Dismembered bodies found buried with marks on neck vertebrae suggesting they had their throats cuts, indicate that the Moche had a tradition of human sacrifice. The sacrifices may have been part of a ritual celebrating the rare occurrence of rain, as skeletons were found deeply encased in mud implying they deliberately took place in wet weather.

Powerful women

The discovery of female mummies buried with gold and weaponry has led experts to believe that Moche women may have held political and religious positions. Lady Cao, the name given to a mummy discovered at the ancient archaeological site of El Brujo in 2005, was found with a wealth of objects and elaborate tattoos over her arms and legs, suggesting she was a high-ranking Moche priestess, or even ruler.

While Quilter encourages caution in interpreting the find, as being buried with symbols of rank and power does not necessarily mean that one had power in life, he says this theory follows the tradition of Andean societies from relatively recent times where "women have had much more autonomy and power than contemporary Western women have had until very recently."

Read: The 280 million-year-old forest at the South Pole

Yet, the Moche culture is still shrouded in mystery. All the evidence points towards a successful civilization that thrived in the middle of the desert, but its sudden decline around 700 AD has left historians and archaeologists puzzled.

Some researchers believe a natural disaster such as those caused by El Niño, which continues to periodically cause severe flooding in Peru, led to the Moche's demise.

Quilter says that though this is possible, "it is just as likely that there was a growing dissatisfaction of people regarding their leaders that made people no longer support the 'system' and so that 'system' changed, much the same as is happening today and has happened at many times and places in the past."

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1,500-year-old ruins shed light on Peru's mysterious Moche people | CNN

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A team of archaeologists has uncovered two ceremonial chambers in Peru used by the ancient Moche culture around 1,500 years ago. The find, announced last week, is shedding new light on the political life and rituals of the enigmatic civilization and could help us understand its sudden collapse.

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Outstanding Universal Value

The archaeological site of Chavin gave its name to the culture that developed between the 15th and the 5th century BC in this high valley of the Peruvian Andes, in the province of Huari, department of Ancash. Chavin was a ceremonial and pilgrimage centre for the Andean religious world and hosted people from different latitudes, distances and languages, becoming an important centre of ideological, cultural and religious convergence and dissemination around a cult spread over a wide territory of the Andes, as far as the north, central and south coasts, the northern highlands and high jungle of Peru.

Chavin is one of the earliest and best known pre-Columbian sites and represents the more important expression of the arts and decorative and construction techniques of its time. The ceremonial and cultural nature of the site is evident in its architectural, technological and symbolic creation, which is characterized by coated quarried stone buildings and artificial terraces around plazas, containing an internal gallery system with an intricate network of vents and drains unprecedented in South America. The buildings and plazas were decorated with lush anthropomorphic and zoomorphic symbolic iconography of extraordinary aesthetic synthesis, carved in bas-relief on tombstones, columns, beams and monolithic stone sculptures. The Chavin Lanzón, the Raimondi Stela, the Tello Obelisk, the Falconidae Portico, the Circular Plaza and the tenon heads, among others, are evidence of the outstanding and monumental Chavin lithic art. All of these features make the archaeological site a unique monument of universal significance.

Criterion (iii): The Chavin Archaeological Site, eponym of one of the ancient civilizations of South America, is an exceptional example of the architectural, technological and symbolic creations of the early pre-Columbian societies in the Peruvian Andes. Its appearance is breath-taking, with a series of terraces and squares, with a complex system of internal galleries, and decorated with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic iconographic elements of extraordinary beauty. It was an important centre of ideological, cultural and religious convergence and dissemination around a cult spread over a wide territory of the Andes.
Integrity
The boundaries of the inscribed property, 14.79 ha, contain all the elements, characteristics, and structural and symbolic key values of the architectural complex and of its historic evolution which convey its Outstanding Universal Value. Although the site has historically been affected by natural and anthropogenic phenomena, the wholeness of the complex made up by the buildings, platforms and plazas, the planimetry, its architectural design, the original shapes and materials of its different construction stages are still preserved; structures, galleries, plazas and architectural spaces still hold original elements and characteristics, including iconography, revealing its original use and function.

The wholeness and visual integrity of the Chavin Archaeological Site and its landscape has not undergone substantial changes, which is shown in the continuation of traditional agricultural activities in the surrounding areas. Environmental agents are the most relevant factor affecting the preservation of the integrity of the Chavin archaeological site, which have deteriorated its structures through time, including some landslides in the galleries, drains and internal vents. The most important are the floods caused by unexpected landslides and floods from glacial lakes (for example, the 1945 flood that partially buried the site), and earthquakes of high magnitude and intensity (such as the 1970 earthquake).
Authenticity
The conditions of authenticity of the Chavin Archaeological Site, including land planning and its architectural conception, shapes, materials and iconographic design have been maintained

The existing elements at the site are witnesses of the outstanding design, development and aesthetic lithic art synthesis of the tombstones, beams, columns, sculptures and others that remain in situ, and show its religious ideological connotations, the symbolism and ritual meaning of the compound, and the ceremonial use and function of spaces and architectural areas in particular. They also depict Chavin's society and the process of historic evolution that reveal different construction stages and cultural contexts, because of the site's continuous social functions that finally shaped its buildings. The material findings also reveal the function of the ceremonial centre as a place of pilgrimage by northern and central Peru populations in relation to cult clearly visible in its architectural iconography and in the religious paraphernalia found in the site. Archaeological investigations and conservation interventions carried out in the site have kept the spaces and structures of the ceremonial compound unchanged.
Protection and management requirements
Chavin Archaeological Site is properly protected by national law: the National Constitution (Art 36), Law Nº 6634 of June 13, 1929 that expressly stipulates the inalienable and indefeasible right of the Nation on all existing monuments prior to the Viceroyalty in the country and declares the Chavín Archaeological Site as a National Monument. Other legal tools for protection include Law Nº 28296, General Law for National Cultural Heritage which states the cultural heritage of the Nation is inalienable and indefeasible, and Law Nº 13442 which determines the creation of the Chavin Archaeological Site National Park and Centre of the Archaeological Tourism Zone in the province of Huari, department of Ancash.

After the flood that partially buried Chavin in 1945, protection, cleaning, preventive preservation, research and preparation works have been carried out with the participation of several institutions and the Ministry of Culture.

According to national regulation, the management and protection of the Chavin Archaeological Site is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture on behalf of the Peruvian Government.

The Ministry of Culture had being developed a management plan where the necessary items to meet basic needs and develop permanent projects required for protecting, preserving and restoring the site under the framework of institutional operation schemes has being scheduled. In addition, research and preservation activities are supported by private institutions.

The Chavin Archaeological Site has permanent personnel; however, allocated resources are insufficient for the preservation works to be carried out at the site.

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Outstanding Universal Value The archaeological site of Chavin gave its name to the culture that developed between the 15th and the 5th century BC in this high valley of the Peruvian Andes, in the province of Huari, department of Ancash.

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The location of Chavín between the desert coast and Amazon made it a key site for transmission of artistic style.

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Chavín de Huántar

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By NIKHIL SWAMINATHAN

September/October 2014

When local Chilean lumbermen noticed large animal bones on the eroding margins of a creek, they had no idea that they had stumbled onto one of the oldest known examples of human occupation in the Americas. Over a decade of primary excavations at Monte Verde, Vanderbilt University archaeologist Tom Dillehay, then at Austral University of Chile, found the remains of a year-round habitation on what thousands of years ago was an open sandbar, preserved under what had become a peat bog.

The evidence included a 60-foot-long structure, probably tentlike, that may have housed up to 30 people. Support posts within the construction could possibly have demarcated individual living areas. In front of the residence were the remains of two hearths. Nearby, among preserved meat and firewood, were three human footprints still visible in the hardened clay. Artifacts found in the area include wooden slabs (for grinding), the burned tip of a long lance, rudimentary pebble tools used for scraping and cutting, and biface fragments. Wood charcoal from the hearths, when tested, returned an average date of slightly more than 14,500 years ago.

Dillehay has continued to work at the site, showing that the people of Monte Verde were not just big-game hunters. They also appeared to have used 10 different species of seaweed from the Pacific coast-a little more than 50 miles west of the site-for both food and medicine.

In another section of the site, at a level below the spot where the tentlike living quarters sit, Dillehay found 26 stones. At least six appear to be man-made artifacts, and one has burn marks. There are also burned patches of ground, but he is hesitant to call these hearths. Dates returned from this evidence suggest that there may have been people at Monte Verde 15,000 years earlier than previously believed. But Dillehay himself says, "I don't yet see any reason to believe people were in the Americas and that far south 30,000 years ago."

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By NIKHIL SWAMINATHAN September/October 2014 When local Chilean lumbermen noticed large animal bones on the eroding margins of a creek, they had no idea that they had stumbled onto one of the oldest known examples of human occupation in the Americas.

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Description

The Monte Verde archaeological site locates in the region of the sub-Antarctic and evergreen softwood forest, in the low mountains of the South of Chile. There, the site shows the existence of a group of people that lived there throughout the beaches and banks of sand and gravel of a small stream about 14.800 years ago according to the calibrated dates of carbon 14. After the occupation of this site, a turf coating formed by a swamp covered the entire site and allowed the conservation of this impression of the human past. The archaeological works of the Austral University of Chile achieved the discovery of these rests of housing, wood devices, vegetal food rests, such as wild potatoes, and animal bones among which there are rests of 5 or 6 mastodons, as carrion or hunting food, showing an early human fitness to "Valdiviano" type humid temperate forest. Among the lithic tools recovered, we can mention round rocks of the size of an egg, some of which could be useful as stones of sling, and bolas. Likewise, a spike- shape extended cylindrical stone that could have been used for drilling. Other findings were odd stone devices with sheet shapes, including a nucleus and a chopper and the rests of 2 long lanceolate tip projectiles, similar to those known as El Jobo projectile tips found in the early scopes of Venezuela. In wood devices a lance tip shape, digging sticks, three handles with scrapers mounted thereon and three mortars rustically worked are included. Timber was used in the construction of two different types of structures found in two different areas of the site. To form the base of rectangular housing, small trunks or woods and thick planks rudely cut were arranged on the floor. Through the use of stakes they were set in their place. Near this, vertical stems were introduced in each meter of the land to build the housing structure. In some fallen woods animal fur traces were found suggesting us that the leather was conforming housing walls. Measures ranged from 3 to 4,5 metres per side. Inside the big tent, the 12 excavated rooms were joined on their sides and arranged in 2 parallel rows or lines. Tools, plant rests and superficial or slightly deep wells covered with clay used as bonfires (fires) as they still kept evidences of fire rests, were recovered inside the housing. Apparently, the kitchen was a communal activity and took place around two big fires. Separated from the rest of the housing and isolated, there was a very different type of structure located to the west end of the site. This structure had a U-shape with compacted sand or gravel founding or base. Timber pieces or fragments in vertical position were present every half meter throughout both arms of the structure and were useful as wood housing to fasten the leather coating or cover. A small platform protruded on the rear part of the structure turning the U-shape of the precinct in one that resembles a Y aspect. The platform is approximately 3 metres width by 4 meters long. The open front of the structure faced a small clearance or cleared and clean zone containing small bonfires covered with clay. In this area rests of animal furs, canes and burnt seeds as well as various species of medicinal plants also burnt were recovered, even rests of chewed sheets. In the surroundings of the structure and the yard there was a fire concentration, timber piles, tools, medicinal plants and bones, including most of the mastodon rests found in the site. It is obvious, that this structure of open front was the focus or centre for the special activities that included the process of hunting, or a ritual celebration, the preparation of medicinal herbs and maybe, the practice of the Shamanic cure. This structure locates at the beginning of a long architecture tradition with special purpose aimed at special social (or communitarian or corporate) activities and from which we know very little. In sum, the current visibility of the site is given by the architecture characterised by the presence of a timber foundation network defining the external and internal division architectonic base of the tent, including in situ wedges and stakes, and ropes and rush knots supporting it. The second architectonic evidence corresponds to the U-shape structure foundation - formed by hardened gravel and sand where timber planks supporting the roof were fixed - with East West direction and with the door to the east. The people of Monte Verde chased or hunted mastodons. They also hunted Camelidae and other minor animals. The collection of plants was equally or more important that hunting. In addition to wild potatoes, botanical rests include edible seeds, fruits, nuts, berries, mushrooms, algae, vegetables, tubercles and rhizomes. The flora was collected in the surroundings of marshes, forests and in the Pacific shore allowing a diet enriched with iodine and salt. With the exploitation of disperse ecological zones with a different growth regime, the inhabitants of Monte Verde obtained edible plants during all the months of the year enabling the occupation of the site during all seasons. This evidence of permanent residence is contrary to the common vision of migrating collector hunters.

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Description The Monte Verde archaeological site locates in the region of the sub-Antarctic and evergreen softwood forest, in the low mountains of the South of Chile. There, the site shows the existence of a group of people that lived there throughout the beaches and banks of sand and gravel of a small stream about 14.800 years ago according to the calibrated dates of carbon 14.

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